Many mechanical means have been provided in the past for use with guitars and similarly stringed instruments, but these means have been generally directed to simplifying the plucking of the strings by replacing manual plucking with mechanical plucking means. Examples of such means are those disclosed and described in U.S. Pat. No. 921,565 (Scarlett); U.S. Pat. No. 2,429,138 (Ruf); and U.S. Pat. No. 3,292,975 (Koniecki). Means have also been provided for changing the pitch of a string as it is plucked or strummed by lengthening or shortening the string, such as is disclosed and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,574,881 to McBride.
No known means have been heretofore provided whereby the notes of a stringed instrument can be mechanically actuated like the strings in a piano.
The present invention provides a percussive device for a stringed instrument. The percussive device includes a support structure, an attachment component that attaches the support structure to the stringed instrument, one or more hammers attached to arms rotatably coupled to the support structure and one or more actuators rotatably coupled to the support structure. User activation of the one of the actuators causes a corresponding one of the hammers to make contact with a string of the stringed instrument.
In one aspect of the invention, a rotational force device applies a rotational force to at least one of the hammer arms or actuators. The rotational force device includes a torsion or helical compression spring. The applied rotational force causes the hammer to be positioned not in contact with the string of the stringed instrument. The applied rotational force is overcome when an applicable force has been applied to the corresponding actuator by a user, thereby causing the at least one hammer to be positioned in contact with the corresponding string of the stringed instrument.
In another aspect of the invention, the support structure includes two side sections that are located on either side of the strings of the stringed instrument when the device is attached thereto. The attachment component includes a strap received through one or more slots located in the support structure.